1. Field of the Invention
Electronic Communications, Telephonic Communications
2. Description of the Related Art
Communications between transmitters and receivers follow specific protocols and formats. The rapid development of such devices as modems, fax, personal communicators and security services has resulted in a large number of different formats. The format used often varies from one model to another even in devices performing the same function and made by the same manufacturer. In lieu of receivers dedicated to receive a particular transmission format, it is preferable to use receivers which can adapt to different formats readily.
A receiver which adapts automatically to different formats is described by present applicants in U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,619. In general, transmitters attempting to communicate with a receiver will not begin to send data until they have confirmation that a connection to the receiver is made. Once a connection is made, the receiver emits a signal, sometimes referred to as a handshake signal, which will then cause the transmitter to begin to send its data. Different transmitters require different handshake signals and the data format will vary also. The mentioned Patent describes a receiver designed to emit a sequence of different handshakes corresponding to different data formats which is capable to adapt to different data formats and to communicate with different types of transmitters.
The proliferation of different protocols has resulted in the need to emit a sequence of many different types of handshakes. When the transmitter detects its corresponding handshake, it starts its transmission and the receiver then stops emitting its handshake sequence. It is of interest to shorten the sequence, since the time for the transmitter to wait for its corresponding handshake would then be reduced. It is also advantageous to prevent any extraneous and unnecessary signals from being emitted. Such signals are potential causes of unreliability and problems to the signaling environment.